Taiwan Land Development Corp (TLDC, 台灣土地開發) has partnered with Ivy Life Sciences Co (常春藤生命科學) to develp an immunotherapy business in Kinmen, with a view to attracting customers from China.
The Taipei-based developer inked a memorandum of understanding with Ivy Life to set up a cell biology laboratory on the outlying island, which could start operating in 2021 after gaining approval from heath authorities.
The joint venture, valued at NT$500 million (US$15.89 million), came after the government in September last year gave its go-ahead to special rules governing immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that boosts the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer.
Photo: Chen Yung-chi, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on May 3 issued the first cell treatment license to Tri-Service General Hospital, allowing it to use cell-based immunotherapy with cytokine induced-killer cells (CIK) on patients, with help from Ivy Life, the only government-certified laboratory with the domain knowhow.
The deregulation makes Taiwan the first nation in Asia to tap into a business linked to cell treatment that could generate NT$10 billion in the next six months alone, Ivy Life general manager Terry Chang (張泰銘) said.
The treatment targets mainly wealthy patients with advanced lung, liver or blood cancer, as well as degenerative arthritis, cartilage defects and other illnesses, Chang said.
TLDC runs a shopping mall, Wind Lion Plaza (風獅城), in Kinmen that has become a popular attraction among Chinese tourists, TLDC chairman Chiu Fu-sheng (邱復生) said.
Kinmen is only 40 minutes from Xiamen, China, by boat.
Rich Chinese patients might desire the treatment, which can help strengthen the immune system without negative side effects, but is not yet available in China, Chang said.
A treatment course would need six to eight shots at a cost of NT$300,000 each, he said.
The laboratory would be set up in a residential complex, another part of a build-operate-transfer venture with the county government like the shopping mall, TLDC president Vicki Chiu (邱于芸) said.
Kinmen is ideal for developing tourism and preventive medicine given its scenic views and a fast-growing number of senior citizens, Viki Chiu said, as the offshore county has lost its young population to Taiwan proper.
The cell treatment could bring more tourists to Kinmen and invigorate its economy as a whole, Chiu said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS